[small goals] | november 2016

I had my first (and probably only) pumpkin spice latte last weekend when my brother and sister were visiting. My sister’s bus home Sunday morning was delayed, and she requested we deliver her coffee and donuts and sit with her while she waited for hours.

We’d been hanging out all weekend and were looking forward to sleeping in and having a lazy brunch, but we did it.

That’s love.

I feel like fall is the friendliest season. The tension of the heat has melted away and no one is bitter about the cold yet.

It’s been strange experiencing the shifting of seasons in this new California way. It doesn’t seem right that it gets dark so early when the afternoons are so sunny.

The seasons are changing in the same way, but time slips by just as fast.

I didn’t hit my past goals out of the park, but I did alright.

Make a MeetUp account and try a few social activities.

I did make an account. The first thing I searched for was book club, but sadly there were none. I’m going to have to make my own. There’s a tabletop gaming group I want to check out, and there’s a social service and volunteer group that might be promising. None of the events have been at good times yet, but I haven’t ruled it out.

I did go to a discussion at a local peace and culture institute on Russian History and Politics (which yes, is an actual interest of mine. I took 18 hours classes about it in college). But I was the youngest person there by several decades. Not the perfect social setting, but hey, I tried!

I’m attending the local write-ins for NaNoWriMo, so perhaps I’ll meet a local writer friend. I know that writing at a bar is not the most social of situation, but hey, remember I’m an introvert.

Try four new recipes.

I rocked at this one!

My brother and sister-in-laws writer cartoon writing friends host a ‘fucking fall dinner’ that is like an early Friendsgiving. Unfortunately, it was like 95 degrees in Glendale, so I was glad I had brought kale and brussel sprout salad from Cookie + Kate’s blog instead of roasted vegetables.

I made these enchiladas, but still need to play with the ratios in the sauce. I also added sour cream, which made it not vegan but the cool cream really cut through the spice of the sauce.

I also got a Green Chef box, and absolutely loved one recipe that will be easy to duplicate again. This maple tempeh with braised apples and cabbage was phenomenal, and not anything I would have ever pinned or looked up on my own. I’ll have to reverse engineer the sauces, but it will be worth it.

I had scheduled a Blue Apron delivery, but it got lost in shipping or something. Which is ironic, considering the reason I looked into subscription boxes for meal planning was because I got two Blue Apron deliveries that weren’t mine when I first moved to Santa Barbara. I’ll have to wait for another box to come up that has three dishes I’m excited about trying.

Overall, I’m a fan of the subscription boxes, but only want one about one week a month. It’s convenient when I’m too busy to shop but want to cook. I do like to go to the farmer’s market and try my own recipes, and some weeks all I want is quick and easy meals. And some weeks I only have $25 to spent at Trader Joe’s for my week’s worth of groceries, and that works just fine, too.

I also experimented with modifying a few recipes and I came up with the most amazing roasted veggie and brown rice cheesy casserole, which I’ll share on the blog as soon as I can make it before 5 pm when the sun goes down.

Pilates and running twice a week.

I did them each once a week, but haven’t made it to twice. (It’s been getting dark so early!). Will try again over the next couple months.

Practice with Adobe Creative Suite.

I did edit some photos for work and for the blog, but I didn’t get $20 a month’s worth of use out of it, which is what it costs. I want to take a million photos while I’m in Lawrence next month (I miss everything so much!) then it will be the holidays, so I will hopefully be taking more photos that will need editing.

Make some shrubs to up my craft cocktail game.

I did try this, and it was only semi successful, but then the jar I had it in spilled all over the side door shelf of my fridge and it was so difficult to clean up. (Make sure your jars are sealed tight, especially when they contain sticky syrupy substances!)

November and December Goals

1 – Take off my makeup and wash my face as soon as I get home.

I’ve been way better about washing my face and taking off my mascara since I got new white sheets. (I was really, really bad at this before). But I think if I got in the habit of doing it as soon as I settled in for the night, I’d achieve a 100% wash-before-bed rate.

2 – Win NaNoWriMo!

I haven’t participated in NaNoWriMo the past two years because I was in grad school. This year, my old dear friend and critique partner have challenged each other to write something new. I’m so excited! It’s going to be fun.

3 – Figure out how not to be such a slob at work.

I have never been particularly neat in the office department. But the part-time librarian that works next to me is so orderly it makes me look even more slovenly, and I am always encroaching on her space. Granted, my corner is tiny, and I get a lot of crap thrown my way, but I know if I try I can reign it in.

4 – Not overspend on the holidays.

I have a bad habit of going overboard during the gift-giving season. I really am going to stick to my plan this year.

5 – Investigate more freelancing opportunities.

I achieved my goal of writing for a new publications this year, but I’d like to expand on that a bit.

What are your goals for the next several weeks?

I’m linking up with Writes Like a Girl. Check out and see what goals other are setting for the month, and be inspired.

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Good luck on your new goals! I had to laugh at be more orderly at the office. I now work in an open environment, and the desks are so clean it’s unbelievable! I’m coming from having my own office with 2 messy desks – so it was quite a change for me.